The History of Lawrencetown Beach

The 1800's

In the census of 1827, there were records of 161 residents in the Lawrencetown area. Some notable last names were Crowell,
Crook, Sellar, Shaw, Green, Bremnar, Pentz, Gammon, and Robinson.

Between 1818 and 1827, £312 English Pounds, were spent on building and improving roads in the area. This included a
road to Cole Harbour, the Mineville Road, part of the Crowell Road, and a start on the road to West Chezzetcook.

The years between 1830 and 1860 were years of rapid growth in the Lawrencetown area. Some new families who arrived in
those years were the McKenna, Merson, Murphy, Conrad, Leslie, Taylor, and Morash families. Most people were involved in
lumbering, farming, milling of grains, and gold mining. Gold was discovered in the Mineville area in 1861. As the population
grew, there were often disputes over property boundaries because the deeds were poorly written, or they had no deeds to their
properties at all.

In the 1830’s the Calvin Free Church was established. It was originally a small shack build at the MacDonald Hill.
It was rebuilt into a more modern building, which burned to the ground in 1965. That was the year the community established the
volunteer fire department. The cement steps are still visible near the MacDonald house.